1. “Leandra’s Law” Update – It has been nearly three years since the enactment of “Leandra’s Law” (November 18, 2009) in New York State and much progress has been made in improving traffic safety. Since the legislation’s first effective date, December 18, 2009, a total of 2,361 drunken drivers have been arrested for operating a motor vehicle with a child passenger less than 16 years of age in the vehicle—a Class E Felony Offense. The second component of “Leandra’s Law”, which requires any operator convicted of a DWI in New York State, sentenced on or after August 15, 2010, to install an Ignition Interlock Device in any motor vehicle he/she “owns or operates” has resulted in the installation of nearly 10,000 ignition interlock devices. While considerable progress has been made in this area, the statewide installation rate continues to be less than one third of all sentences imposed by the Courts. A number of operators have transferred title or sold their motor vehicles, but continue to operate vehicles not equipped with the Ignition Interlock Device, a Class A Misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail. Probation/Monitors continue to assess the driving behaviors of these operators to improve traffic safety in New York State. For additional information, please contact Patty Hogan at Patricia.Hogan@dcjs.ny.gov or (518) 485-8855.

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2. Statewide Repository of Presentence Investigation Reports – Over the past six months, a statewide workgroup of probation, DCJS IT and OPCA professionals, along with AutoMon, Inc, have worked together to develop a single uniform presentence investigation template for New York State, and the nearly 50 probation departments that are utilizing the automated probation case management system, Caseload Explorer. The goal of this intense effort by the probation practitioners was to develop a single template within Caseload Explorer that will populate the New York Offender Assessment Data Sharing System (NYOADS) supported through DCJS. This work will complete Phase 3 of the NYOADS initiative that includes a statewide repository of presentence investigation reports that will be accessible by all probation departments and the State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS). For more information please contact Gary Govel at Gary.Govel@dcjs.ny.gov or (518) 457-4336.

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3. Laws Preventing Internet Access to Child Pornography Strengthened– On September 9, 2012, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a bill strengthening laws against internet access of child pornography. The new law amends New York's Penal Law to prohibit individuals from knowingly accessing the internet with the intent of viewing child pornography. Currently, under New York law, an individual who views child pornography on a website where the images become automatically embedded in a computer does not "possess" child pornography. This legislation closes that loophole. Under the new law if an individual purposefully accesses a website, intending to view child pornography, he or she will be committing a class E felony. As a result of this new law, child pornography can never be legally possessed in New York State.

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4. Crackdown on Prescription Drug Abuse - On August 8, 2012, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed legislation that will help the state crack down on prescription drug abuse. The new law includes a series of provisions to overhaul the way prescription drugs are distributed and tracked in New York State. This legislation includes enacting a "real time" prescription monitoring registry to provide timely and enhanced information to practitioners and pharmacists; requiring all prescriptions to be electronically transmitted; improving safeguards for the distribution of specific prescription drugs that are prone to abuse; and charging a workgroup of stakeholders with the responsibility to help guide the development of medical education courses and other public awareness measures regarding pain management and prescription drugs. Finally, this legislation will require the Department of Health to establish a safe disposal program for unused medications.

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5. Recent State Director’s Memoranda

State Director’s Memoranda are sent out to address changes in policy, procedure, and law affecting probation practice and programs in community corrections alternatives to incarceration. The links to the State Director’s Memoranda distributed in the months of July and August are below. We encourage probation officers to review all State Director’s Memoranda, and recommend that they be utilized as training opportunities provided within probation departments.

To view the attachments please log into eJUSTICE and click on Reference Materials under Probation Services.

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6. Additional Training, Awards, Events and News

~ OPCA is also pleased to announce that a study entitled “New York State COMPAS-Probation Risk and Need Assessment Study: Examining the Recidivism Scale’s Effectiveness and Predictive Accuracy” completed by Sharon Lansing, PhD, of the DCJS research unit is now available online at: http://www.criminaljustice.ny.gov/crimnet/ojsa/opca/compas_probation_report_2012.pdf. Dr. Lansing’s work confirms the great value of COMPAS to our probation departments, in particular noting that the COMPAS Recidivism Scale worked effectively with respect to study cases overall as the rates for ANY re-arrest increased substantially with each “recommended” supervision level. Please share this important report with staff for their review.

~ On September 20, 2012 OPCA Interstate Unit staff completed in-person training in Manhattan. There were 22 people in attendance including all of the Juvenile Directors & Designees from each of the five boroughs. ICJ rules were covered and the future implementation of the Juvenile Interstate Data System (JIDS) was discussed. The meeting proved beneficial to both the NYC Juvenile Department of Probation (DOP) attendees as well as the Interstate staff trainers. OPCA is pleased to announce that Interstate staff will meet quarterly with NYC Juvenile DOP.

~ Saratoga County’s Supervision and Treatment Services for Juveniles Program (STSJP) was again granted approval by the Office of Children, Youth, and Families (OCFS). This program is a collaborative effort between Saratoga County Probation and Saratoga County DSS to keep medium- to high-risk adolescents at home and out of detention. In 2010, county courts ordered 35 youths out of their homes; in 2011 that number dropped to 17. In 2012 thus far, four youths have been ordered out of their homes by a judge. John Adams, Saratoga County Probation Director, states “It is a win-win situation; because it saves the county money and keeps kids out of detention centers and alternative residential placements. Oftentimes, placing youths in detention centers or putting them in foster homes doesn’t solve the problems the parents and courts are attempting to fix.” Attached is the link for the complete articlehttp://www.saratogian.com/articles/2012/09/18/news/doc5057d379134ce878904072.txt

~ An Ignition Interlock Device assisted in the arrest of a Nassau County probationer after the device sent a Client Violation Notification to the supervising agency, along with a real time photograph of the offender’s 12 year-old daughter blowing in the device for a retest after the offender had blown a .091 BrAC on the initial start up test.

~ The Association of New York State Youth Bureaus (ANYSYB) is pleased to announce its annual training, October 24-25 at the Holiday Inn Wolf Road, in Albany, New York. Youth development experts from across the state and country will convene to share and learn best practices, ideas and exchange knowledge on issues pertaining to youth development, prevention services, healthy living and high risk youth. For more information please log onto www.anysyb.net.

~ “All in a day’s work”; Cayuga County Probation Assistant Fred Privitere has a client that has some physical difficulties and in an attempt to accommodate her physical issues, he went out to her home to complete the COMPAS risk instrument. Upon arrival, Fred found this client on the floor and in an unresponsive state. Fred called the paramedics to assist this client. Without Fred's assistance, this woman may have succumbed. Thank you for your compassion and professionalism.

eFocus is the property of the Office of Probation and Correctional Alternatives. Articles may be reprinted with attribution to the Office. For more information on any of the topics mentioned above, to report any difficulties you may have experienced receiving this email, or, if you have information you would like posted in the next issue of OPCA's eFocus, please contact Nicole Aldi at (518) 485-8457 or Nicole.Aldi@dcjs.ny.gov.

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